Carson LumiLoupe Plus 17.5x Power Stand Loupe Magnifier with Dual Lens Focusing System (LO-15), Black

i've been working in photo studios and darkrooms since the early 90s, both as a student and professionally, and this is one of the nicest loupes i've ever handled. the elements are gigantic, making it really easy to use without the need to keep it perfectly centered on your pupil. also, the ability to easily focus the loupe makes it useful for objects that are not perfectly, perfectly flat (like single negatives that are slightly U-bent). the large size of the clear base is great as well, and lets in plenty of light for viewing even if you don't have a light table. this is not the classic shot-glass size loupe, it's closer in size to a small teacup.my only gripe is that the lens elements aren't glass, but the ~$11 price tag more than makes up for that. this isn't bleeding-edge high-end equipment but it's definitely worth the money for anyone involved in photography.

Quite good for plastic optics. The 6x magnification listed seems to be accurate, unlike many Chinese loupe seller's exaggerated claims. The LumiLoupe Plus series of Carson magnifiers have the advantage of being focusable while many of the other Carson stand magnifiers are fixed focus. Good magnification level for use with the micro print in the two cased volume Unabridged Oxford English Dictionary, the one that includes a rectangular magnifier. I can see the individual LCD pixels on my high resolution Dell LCD monitor with it. Quite large as the clear plastic base is 4.5" in diameter and lets in plenty of light. Works best with the eye as close to the lens as possible for maximum field of view and minimal distortion. In other words designed to be used as a low power loupe rather than a reading magnifying glass. This is true of almost all loupe type magnifiers. For normal book reading type magnification a lower power single lens magnifier or a Fresnel lens type page magnifier might be better unless the higher magnification of this is needed.

I have viewers with different levels of magnification for my blade work. This 17.5x is about as high power as it can be and still be useful as a hand held lense.An unexpected design element, that has been useful, is that the lense can be removed from the base. So I have free range-of-distance from the lense to the knife's edge.It took practice to use the 17.5x to interpret what I'm seeing. Usually the knife edge has a parabolic curve/distortion, but I can still make out some details on the metal.I place the knife edge under the light beam of a desk lamp, then adjust the distance between the knife edge and the lense, and between the lense and my eye. Its a challenge to keep the alignment for any length of time, but I'm getting better at it. Placing both elbows on the desk helps.My go-to lense is a 10x. It is easier to use. But sometimes I resort to this 17.5x to get a more detailed, though less practical, look at a very small section of an edge.

Good product!

As a response to Pandemic II, I decided to spend some of the isolation going through my old slides and digitize some, discard others. With over 1500 slides to look at, and most in see-through 20 slide folders, I decided to get a light table and a loupe to speed up the process. The light table allows for immediate viewing of 20 slides, and the loupe allows me to look more closely at individual slides if I have a question about it. For what I want to do this loupe distorts everything except the very center of the viewing area. Other loupes I've used worked better, but in current dollars they cost a good deal more. Moving it around I am able to view all I need to see in the slide, but that slows down the process. On a positive side it seems well assembled, and for this price, usable.

Perfect and does exactly what is advertised. I misunderstood the process to use it for and they helped me out. The company was very understanding. I am appreciative companies like this. They are good.

Worked great for close print examinations

I needed this to see my knife edges after sharpening,it filled my need.

Well built and pretty good optics for an uncorrected loupe.I say uncorrected and it only uses spherical lens geometry so there's quite a bit of distortion and aberration as you start viewing away from the center, but this is expected. A loupe with aspheric and/or multiple elements is going to add another zero to the price.

ES MUY MANEJABLE.

improving my work

Un indispensable pour une graphotherapeute

Good product and magnification. Works best with a room when there is bright light on the object for magnification.